Barca sweeps Galatasaray en route to Final Four

Barca

FC Regal Barcelona have clinched their berth in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four after sweeping their series against Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul, 3-0. Even though the Spanish squad were regarded as heavy favorites in their Quarterfinals match-up against Galatasaray based on their strong play in the preliminary rounds of action, the Turkish team made them work for their berth and fought tooth and nail. Alas, Barca prevailed in the end by three and pulled off the 78-75 victory.

Galatasaray, led by their floor general Carlos Arroyo, surged ahead in the first quarter as took control of the game. He got to the basket and when the defenders converged he found the open Serbian big man Zoran Erceg for some easy buckets in the paint. Erceg was a force to be reckoned with as he drew more than a few fouls throughout the game that sent him to the free-throw line. Erceg finished with a perfect 10-10 from the stripe. Their two-man game was impressive and it led to their team taking an early lead, 23-15, after the first period.

Barcelona

In the second period, Barca woke up and stepped up their defensive pressure on Arroyo to stifle his handle on the game’s tempo. That, coupled with a much needed boost off the bench from Jacob Pullen, Barcelona was able to whittle at Galatasaray’s lead and keep the deficit to a manageable five-point range and were now just down 35-40 at the half.

In the third period Barcelona was finally able to catch up and tie the game at 49-49. Once again, Carlos Arroyo came to deliver the goods and knocked down a key three-pointer. Galatasaray looked to their reserves for some offense and energy, but got very little. The low-scoring third period ended with Barca finishing up by one, 53-52.

In the final quarter, Brazilian-Italian Marcelinho Huertas came up big for Barcelona and took care of leading the offensive charge. Brad Oleson also came up with some key free-throws to help seal their lead. Huertas led the team with 16 points and Oleson finished with 13. The big factor in Barca’s win was that their bench, led by Jacob Pullen and Bostjan Nachbar, outscored Galatasaray’s reserves by 20 points.

Arroyo’s heroic game-high of 21 points, supported by Erceg’s 19, was not enough to carry their team to a triumphant end in their do-or-die game.

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